The Death Wood
by TolkienGeek1
Summary: Kili gets an urge to go on an adventure while his mother, uncle, and brother are gone. The only issue is that the place he wants to go to is all but forbidden in most people's eyes. The Death Wood is known for some awful things - but why would that stop him and Brynn? One shot!


**So basically the story behind this is that I wrote it while I wrote the DoS part of my story two(?) years ago. This incident is even mentioned in a chapter! I wrote it, I loved it, and then I accidentally deleted it. After that I had no motivation to do it again whatsoever, but I finally decided to, because I said I would. So here it is! I hope you all like it!**

 **Brynn is my OC from my full story set on the quest. She is Fili and Kilis sister!**

 **Brynn is 12, Kili is 17**

Brynn hugged her mother one more time, listening to the instructions she had already been given twice before.

"Mama, if you don't leave now, you're going to be late!" Brynn said as Fili kissed her on the cheek goodbye.

"Are you sure you two will be alright?" Dis asked, worried about leaving her two youngest children alone.

"Yes, mama. I've got things covered." Kili interrupted.

Dis got into the front seat of the carriage with Filis help, situating herself in the wooden seat. "Your uncle will be home tonight, and there is bread in the bread box, and Balin said if you need anything-"

"Mama, we know." Brynn laughed. " _Go_!"

Dis closed her mouth and nodded to Fili, and Fili drove the carriage away.

Kili slipped his arm around Brynns waist as they watched their brother and mother roll out of eyesight. Fili was taking his mother out of the mountain to visit a friend far away, and Brynn and Kili would be alone until late at night when Thorin would come back from a trip.

"So, what do you want to do, Bree?" Kili asked.

"Hmm. I don't know."

"How bout we go to the woods?"

"Good idea." Brynn approved.

"And while we're there, we can make a quick stop in the Death Wood."

Brynn spun around and out of her brothers hold. "Hold on. The Death Wood is not a quick stop. It's _death_."

Kili rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic."

"Kili, it's dangerous!"

"Come on, people just like to tell tales. It'll be fine. It'll be fun. I've wanted to go there forever and I can't with mama or uncle or even Fili here, so this is my only chance."

Brynn glared at him. "Fine. But if we die, it is your fault."

"I will take full responsibility."

The siblings got ready to go to the woods. They got their swords, bows and arrows, knives, and throwing axes. Kili said that they didn't need the last two, but Brynn insisted on being fully dressed in their weapons, since they were going to the Death Wood.

"They don't call it the Death Wood for nothing." Brynn said, slipping her long knives into her boots.

"That's just a nickname they gave it."

Brynn froze and sent him a glare. "Because people have _died_."

As they made their way toward the woods, Brynn started to relax a bit more. The woods couldn't really be cursed. That was just a folk tale. Sure, people had died, but maybe they had died because they were foolish. That's what she told herself, and that's what put her in a slightly better mood.

They walked through the regular woods. The thing about the Death Wood is that it was part of a normal set of woods. That part was nicknamed the Living Wood after the Death Wood got its name.

"See, not so bad, eh, Brynn?" Kili asked, smiling as Brynn got a butterfly to crawl onto her finger.

Brynn glowered playfully at being wrong. That is, until they reached the edge of the Death Wood. They hadn't really expected a change, but there was. There was a big change.

The trees were the first thing Brynn noticed. The trunks were black and the leaves were a sickly dark green that looked diseased. The birds stopped singing, and Brynn couldn't see any sign of wildlife. It even seemed darker in that part of the forest. A light mist hung in midair.

"Kili..." Brynn trailed off uncertainly.

"It's fine, Bree. Just a change from this part." Kili said, though Brynn could tell he wasn't as certain of his plan as he was before.

They stepped into the Death Wood. The air was so humid you felt like you were drinking it instead of breathing, yet you could still feel a chill crawl over your skin. There was no breeze. The leaves and branches were utterly still.

As the siblings got deeper, the mist got thicker, making it hard to see. More than once they tripped over something underfoot.

Kili put a hand on Brynns shoulder, making her jump. "Let's go back, Bree. I think the stories were true. We shouldn't be here."

Those words sent terror throughout Brynn. She always thought that he was wrong, but him actually saying it made everything worse. It took a lot for Kili to admit his folly. Suddenly she didn't feel safe at all.

They turned to go back.

A child screamed. Brynn grabbed Kilis arm and gripped it so hard it made him wince. To go from complete silence and stillness to a child screaming like they were being murdered was not a comforting thing. Not in the least. Almost all the horror stories Brynn could think of had someone screaming in the night.

"Help!" It screamed again.

The word, instead of just a scream, seemed to make Brynn think it was less scary and more a child in need of help. If she were a young dwarfling, and she were lost in the Death Wood, she would be screaming too.

"Help!"

Brynn set her face even though her heart was pounding. "Come on!"

She took off in the direction she thought the noise was coming from.

"Brynn, no!" Kili yelled, but it was no use. He had to follow her, or risk losing her.

How they managed to run full tilt through the woods and not trip or break an ankle they didn't know. Especially with the mist so thick. Brynn was certain she should have run into a tree trunk at least once. But every time she thought she was about to accidentally run into one, she swore it disappeared.

A minute later, she saw the figure of the child, a few feet away. She was thankful that the mist seemed unable to hide the little girl. Brynn could tell she was looking at them. And then, she ran. The little girl took off in the opposite direction.

"Wait! Come back!" Brynn yelled. "We're here to help!"

But it was no use. She kept going, and she was getting out of sight. Brynn cursed the fact that this child was somehow faster than her and Kili.

Suddenly, the ground was no longer under Brynns feet. She was falling through open air. Her heart flew to her throat, her lungs heaved for air as panic surged through her body - and then she hit the bottom.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kili remembered the two options he had. They were both hard. He thought they should run away from the child. It didn't seem natural. But then he thought they should find the kid who was screaming. If it was an actual child, he would never forgive himself for leaving it. Brynn ended up acting faster than he did and he was forced to follow, even though he wasn't certain it was the right thing to do. He wasn't going to lose her. He had made a mistake in coming here, and he was going to make sure they both made it out alive or he'd never forgive himself.

When they went airborne, he realized what had happened immediately. His first thought was to get Brynn; try and cushion her fall. But there was no way he could do that. She had been a few feet away from him.

Now he was lying on the hard ground, his ribs hurting with every heart beat and every breath, his head throbbing, and his wrist almost certainly fractured. He wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, or if he even had been.

How stupid could he be? The Death Wood. The Death Wood. Death happened there - why couldn't he get that through his thick skull? And now, he shuddered to think, Brynn could be dead. Sweet Brynn who didn't want to be there in the first place.

Kili called his sister once, then looked around the canyon they had fallen in. She was a few feet away from him, unmoving. He crawled painfully over to her. Her leg was twisted weirdly. He didn't think it was broken, just hurt. There was blood coming from the side of her face.

"Brynn." He shook her gently. "Brynn, darling, wake up."

Brynn slowly stirred, her brow furrowed in discomfort. Her eyes opened.

"Kili?"

"It's me."

"What happened?"

"We ran off a cliff."

Kili looked closer at Brynns eyes, and he saw that they were glazed over and glassy. She had a head injury. He knew from things Oin had said that this could be dangerous if she fell asleep.

"We need to get you up." Kili said, turning so he could push Brynn upwards.

Brynn groaned in pain but made it up, slumping over. "Why?"

"You hurt your head."

"I'm aware."

Kili scooted closer to be next to Brynn. He had to keep a close eye on her.

"My leg hurts. It's not broken, but it hurts really bad." Brynn said it quietly, voice quivering as she moved her bad leg to see how much she could use it.

Kili put his hand on Brynns shoulder.

"Are you hurt?" Brynn asked.

"My head hurts, my wrist is fractured, and my ribs are too, if not broken."

"Let me see." Brynn went to move her arm to check Kilis ribs but stopped and yelled. "My collarbone is broken. I thought it was just hurting but it's gotta be broken." She gasped.

"We've gotten ourselves into a fine mess."

"That's for certain." Brynn remembered something. "Where's the little girl? Is she..." Brynn didn't want to say the word.

Kili shook his head. "She didn't fall."

Brynn stilled. "Kili, she had to. She was right in front of me."

Kili squirmed, not liking the thought running through his head. "Bree... I don't think she was... _Natural_."

Brynn stayed silent for a beat. "I don't like that. Not at all."

They sat in silence for a bit, not wanting to have to figure a way out of the canyon. They just wanted to be home.

But then they heard voices coming towards them. At first they thought it would be something like the child they had seen, but soon it became evident that it was Orc voices.

"Bree, we gotta move. We'll climb the wall." Kili said. It really wasn't that huge a cliff, which was why they weren't dead.

"Kili, I can't. My leg - and I'm so tired." Brynn was indeed dozing off.

Kili shook her. Head injuries could make you tired, and if you fell asleep you might not wake up again.

"Brynn, you must stay awake. I'll carry you, but you must stay awake."

He got to his feet and then pulled her with him. He was proud of her for choking back cries of pain from her leg. She jumped on his back (it was his turn to choke back the pain) and he strapped her arms together around his neck with his quiver strap. He then took the short length of rope Brynn had brought and tied it around his waist and hers. If she fell asleep, he would not have her fall back down.

Kili started to climb. They could waste no time, for the orcs were coming nearer by the second.

Kili growled at the pain exploding from his body. He wasn't going to complain - he deserved it. His wrist was obviously getting a lot of use, and - he was slightly surprised at this - his ribs were too. But the pain wasn't what he was worried about. He was starting to get a bit dizzy from his injuries, and that wasn't a good thing when you're climbing a cliff. Not to mention the orcs would see them soon and start shooting if they had bows. Then he would be unwittingly using Brynn as a human shield. Not ideal.

He was nearing the top of the cliff when he heard the angry Orc shouts, and soon he heard the twang of bowstrings. It was hard for the creatures to shoot in the mist, and for once he was thankful of the cloud. He felt a sting on his calf. He had been hit. He heard Brynn groan faintly, but knew she hadn't been pierced. When he reached the top, he used every ounce of strength he had to pull them up quickly. He didn't think he would make it at one point; he was exhausted and he was in a ton of pain. But with two more arrows whizzing by his body, he got a surge of energy. He pulled himself across the ground until they were out of sight from the orcs. Kili untied Brynn from his back and rolled her off of him. He rose to his knees and leaned over her.

"Brynn?" He put his hand to her cheek.

Brynn groaned, barely audible, but her eyes never opened.

"Brynn, darling, come on. Wake up. You gotta wake up."

She didn't. Kili scooped her into his arms and ran. He ran as fast as he ever had, desperation numbing his pain. He burst through the trees sooner than he had expected. He didn't even remember leaving the Death Wood, let alone the entire forest. Not natural, he thought for the thousandth time since they got to the Death Wood. That place wasn't one bit natural, and he never wanted to go there again.

He charged down the road, not daring to stop and breathe for a few seconds. If he did, he was certain those few seconds would cost Brynn her life.

The sight of the door to his home was the best he had ever seen. He skidded to a stop and kicked the door relentlessly, hoping Thorin was home.

The door swung open and Thorin stood there, warm light at his back. Dwalin was right behind him.

Thorin had been in the process of scolding his nephew before he saw Brynn. "What happened?" He demanded from the shaking Kili as he took Brynn from his arms and cradled her like a small child.

Kili didn't answer. He couldn't. The only reason he had been able to force himself to stay upright was because if he didn't, Brynn would fall. She would fall, and her injuries would explode in pain. He couldn't do that to her. He had to stand for her. As soon as her weight was gone from his arms, he collapsed. Dwalin picked him up, and then they were heading for Oins.

"Kili?"

"Yes?" Kili managed to answer Dwalin weakly.

"What happened? What is wrong with Brynn? We must know."

"Fell. Cliff. Rock." Kili knew he sounded stupid, but he was so tired.

"She hit her head?" Thorin asked.

"Hard." Kili furrowed his brow.

"Where were you?"

Oh, his uncle was going to kill him. "Death Wood."

The silence was worse than the scolding Kili had expected. But then again, it was nice to be able to rest and not listen to every accurate word Thorin yelled at him.

"That was foolish. But I'm proud of you for getting you both out of there." Thorin said, his voice strained from worry and from trying not to yell. It wasn't what his nephew needed at the moment.

Thorins words almost took Kili out of his exhausted daze simply by the shock factor, but not quite. They eased Kilis heart though, and that was nice.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Kili woke up in his bed in his room. He was surprised Oin had let him go home, but all in all he didn't really have critical injuries. It is was Brynn he was worried about. Would she be waking up in her bed or in Oins shop, so he could monitor her? Or would she wake up at all?

Kili slowly sat up up, being careful of his ribs. He shuffled out of his and Filis room, wincing at how stiff his body was. The house was quiet, though he was certain it was late in the morning and people should have been home. Then he heard voices coming from the living room. He followed the sound, straining to hear who was there. He opened the door, and sitting on the couch was Brynn, with her legs stretched across the cushions. Her head was wrapped in a white bandage, and her leg was in a splint, and her arm was in a sling, but she was listening intently to something Thorin was saying. Her eyes were tired, but that didn't stop her from smiling. Eventually she noticed Kili in the doorway.

"Morning, Kili." She greeted.

"Morning, Bree." Kili replied skeptically. He couldn't believe that she was so okay. "You seem... Fine."

"You wouldn't believe the headache I have. And this splint is bloody annoying. Not to mention the sling! You got off easy, brother. Lucky."

Kili smiled and sat in an armchair next to Thorin. "Last I saw you I feared for your life."

"I'm much better now. Oin managed to wake me up and then I had to stay awake for the night."

"You still have to stay awake, love." Thorin said, sending her a stern look.

"Yes, yes, I still do. But once I've been up for awhile I'll be fine."

"I'm glad to hear it." Kili rubbed his sore ribs. "Listen, darling, I'm really sorry I got you into this-"

"Nonsense, it was my fault too. I don't want any apologies from you." Brynn shook her head.

Kili felt relieved. "Thanks." He looked carefully towards Thorin. "I guess you can yell at me, now that no ones life is in danger."

Thorin looked like he wanted to, but he broke out into a small smile. "This has got to be one of the stupidest things you two have done. But I'll leave the scolding and yelling to your mother when she gets home. I think she'll do enough for the both of us."

Kili and Brynn weren't sure if they were to be happy or not. They were saved from their uncles wrath, but they knew he was telling the truth about their mothers being enough for two. All of a sudden they weren't so excited for Dis and Fili to return. It turned out they had good reason not to be. Dis reacted just as Thorin had said she would.

 **I hope you all liked it! Please review and tell me what you thought! :)**

 **If you have any ideas for a one shot you'd like me to write up, let me know! I LOVE getting suggestions.**


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